site.btaEU: Bulgaria's Request Regarding EU-Turkey Agreement Is Legitimate

EU: Bulgaria's Request Regarding EU-Turkey Agreement Is Legitimate

Brussels, March 14 (BTA correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - Bulgaria's request with regards to the contents of the agreement between EU and Turkey is legitimate, said European Commission Spokesperson Margaritis Schinas on Monday.

Last week, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov sent a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk in which he insists that the EU provide for the protection of all external borders with Turkey. Bulgaria also håld in the letter that the question of lifting the visas for Turkish nationals should not be bound with dates but with the results of the application of the readmission agreement between Turkey and the EU.

Schinas said this was just a preliminary agreement and that the European Council President has been mandated and it was up to him to sign a finalized draft at the end of this week.

Approached whether the agreement won't pave the ground for a mass turning away of migrants, Schinas said that it was too early to say and that according to EC's legal experts such a preliminary agreement is lawful.

Schinas quoted European Commission  President Jean-Claude Juncker that Europe has moral and legal obligation to help people who are fleeing from wars. Schinas said that the rights of asylum seekers will be protected. According to him, the EC is waiting for the right time to put forward its proposals for changes to the Dublin Regulation under which migrants should be returned to that EU member country from where they have entered the EU.